ATLANTA, Ga.- The No. 23 University of Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving team is in second place after the first day of the Georgia Tech Invitational concluded on Friday. UT earned a total of 250 points, trailing only No. 3 Florida, which finished with 267 points.

"We're pretty fired up and are looking forward to tomorrow's swims," Head Coach Dan Colella said. "We're off to a good start and feel like we will keep the team standings really competitive."

First up in the pool were the relay teams, which qualified based on seed times. UT got the session off to a bang, in what would be a dominating night for the Big Orange relay squads. The quartet of Magnuson, Abbi Terveer (Lima, Ohio), Orstein and Tomes blazed to a pool-record time of 1:34.25 en route to winning the 200y freestyle relay and earning 40 points. Also performing extremely well in the event was the Tennessee "B" team. The relay team of Christy, Athayde, Fessel and Jessica Blevins (Bluefield, W.Va.) claimed a third-place showing and finished in a time of 1:36.62, netting 32 points.

"One of our goals was to do a great job in the relays this weekend," Colella said. "We felt like we had a really good chance of winning but it wasn't easy. For the 'A' and 'B' to go 1-3 is exciting."

Next up on the slate of events was the 500y freestyle. Cain, swimming in the consolation finals, notched a third-place finish and earned six points with a time of 5:02.69. Betsy Brockman (Batavia, Ohio), swimming in the bonus finals, clocked a time of 5:13.91 to finish in eighth.

Orstein and Tomes then re-entered the pool for the 200y IM finals. Both qualified with the top-eight and proceeded to finish one-two in the event, respectively. The freshman, already a provisional qualifier, lowered her time 2:03.30 en route to earning 20 points while Tomes' final marker of 2:05.02 garnered 17 points. Additionally, Orstein improved her placement on the all-time top performers list, moving from 13th to 11th. Meanwhile, Clay and Christy both scored in the consolation finals, picking up six and four points, respectively. Clay finished in 2:09.64 while Christy clocked a time of 2:10.91.Yeager also swam in the 200y IM, taking sixth in the bonus finals.

The sprinters then took over the water for the final individual swimming event on the night, the 50y freestyle. Magnuson earned a spot on the all-time performers list, posting a time of 23.63 to win the event. The final clocking placed the Illinois native as the 15th-fastest Lady Vol swimmer in program history and earned the Big Orange 20 points. Terveer picked up an additional 14 points with a fifth-place showing. The junior finished in 24.15. In the consolation final, Fessel found herself on top, with a marker of 24.42, as she brought home nine additional points. Not to be left out, Athayde won the bonus finals, finishing in 24.66. Vincent and Hartman also swam in the bonus heat, finishing in 25.26 and 25.31.
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pectators at the meet then shifted attention toward the divers, for the three-meter competition. Freshman Lauren LeRoy (Oshkosh, Wis.) finished with a career-best total of 341.10 to claim 15th place and earn UT two points.

The relay squads then reclaimed the pool, for the 400y medley relay, where the Big Orange would end the night as it had started; with a pool record. The quartet of Tomes, Orstein, Fessel and Terveer won by nearly four seconds with a time of 3:46.47 to earn 40 points. Tennessee's "B" squad picked up an additional 30 points, finishing in a time of 3:55.51.

The meet will continue on Saturday, with two sessions scheduled. The preliminary swims will begin at 10 a.m. while the finals will commence at 5:30 p.m.